What If I Am Already On Medication? Last edited: 09 04 2011 07:50

Interactions between herbs and drugs:

When you come to your first herbal consultation please let me know details of any medications you are currently taking. Ideally, please bring the packets thatr the drugs came in, if you still have them.

Depending on the type of mediciation you are taking it may be necessary to exercise greater caution when making a herbal prescription.

One of the main reasons for this is that some drugs may become dangerously toxic, or conversely, ineffective, with only a small change in their relative blood concentrations. Drugs in this category would include, for example, digoxin, warfarin, antirejection drugs, many anti-HIV drugs, phenytoin, and phenobarbitol. Some herbs and even foods can cause trouble when used in conjunction with these drugs.

Herbalists are trained to know which herbs might interact with which drugs, and to understand the underlying processes at work - so should be able to give you well informed advice on this issue.

On the plus side...

Herbal medicine can be a useful alternative for people who have allergic and other adverse reaction to drug treatment. Some people who have arthritis may develop chronic gastrointestinal problems from taking non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). There is a wide range of herbs that may be used to help relieve pain but without causing damage to the digestive tract.

People with mild depression take powerful drugs, but sometime with side effects such as weight gain, loss of appetite, fatigue, emotional extremes, and loss of libido. Herbal medicines such as St John's Wort have been researched and shown to work without producing these side effects.

There are many, many examples of where herbs can effectively be used in place of drugs that may be causing side -effects, and this is one of the reasons why so many people choose to consult a herbalist.